Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Two indications lately hint that science fiction romance is
distinguished from paranormal romance more often than in the past. The first clue
I noticed came from a November 2011 AAR blog article by
Louise VanderVliet called Developing
Paranormal Classifications. The post presents a breakdown of
non-historical, non-contemporary romance subgenres.

If we were to take anything that wasn’t Historical or
Contemporary Romance, there are a bunch of terms out there that tend to be used
interchangeably and not necessarily consistently. Readers and reviewers all
around the web have classified everything from witches and vamps to psi and
Time Travel series as Paranormal. And I am not saying that any of them are
wrong. In a sense, they are all correct. But that classification is becoming
too general for everything that is out there and we are hoping that by making
more distinct classifications – with examples – we can make it more “user
friendly” going forward.

Ms. VanderVliet shares her thoughts about the definition of
SFR:

Sci-Fi Romance: Though this and Fantasy are
often lumped together, to me they are very different. While they can share
elements of dashing sword fights and made up worlds, to me Sci-Fi would happen
in a futuristic setting as opposed to the more medieval setting of a Fantasy
Romance.

Note the poll includes paranormal romance, but specifies
stories of the supernatural kind. In the past, such a poll might have included
paranormal as a catch-all umbrella term (paranormal, fantasy, and scifi). Now
that’s what I call progress!

Fantasy romance isn’t on the list either (although it’s
great to see the GLBQT romance category included).

Are there any conclusions we can draw from the poll? A
couple items come to mind.

The first one is that SFR is separate, but not yet equal.
Kinda like the subgenre is at the party but eating at the little kids’ table.

The second one is that science fiction romance has yet to
Bring It. The poll isn’t about excluding SFR (and since I’m a front-page
blogger for H&H they are obviously open to covering a variety of subgenres).
Rather, it’s an indication the subgenre hasn’t evolved to the point where it
can offer readers a substantial alternative to paranormals, historicals, or
contemporaries, at least some of the time.

The thing is that while romance readers in general do read
across a lot of genres, they are also contrarily extremely picky eaters, shall
we say, even when they do so.

The food analogy works well here because we know how
difficult it can be to persuade some people to eat new foods. And I don’t blame
them because I will not touch raw
oysters with a ten foot pole. (However I do like watching chef and KITCHEN
CONFIDENTIAL author Anthony
Bourdain enjoy them on television. :P)

Still, I also remember the time I ate some delicious fried
morsels while at a restaurant with family members, only to learn they were deep
fried mushrooms. I don’t like mushrooms in general, but I enjoyed them the
way they were cooked at that restaurant. The difference was in the preparation,
presentation, and setting (I was with people I trusted).

Clearly, SFR hasn’t made enough of an impact, meaning to the
point where larger number of romance readers would routinely sample it, let
alone be included in a poll about romance books.

SFR has made enough of an impression in recent years to
become a more distinct subgenre, which is fantastic, but it still has a ways to
go. But what constitutes “bringing it”? Difficult to say. What appeals to
hardcore fans and new readers may occasionally be two different things. Some of
the elements that make SFR a thrill for me are foreign concepts for other
readers. How many of the unique subgenre elements would one have to transform in order to gain wider appeal? There are no easy answers.

However, as long as authors continue writing stories, the
chances increase that the subgenre will evolve. Perhaps the journey will lead
to a world of possibilities given enough time and nurturing.

Joyfully yours,

Heather

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About Me: Heather travels the sea of stars for news about science fiction romance. She's also an author in the genre. To get in touch, you can email her, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

About Me

Heather’s debut sci-fi romance novel, Once Upon a Time in Space, features the last living descendant of Christopher Columbus on a desperate quest to find a new world. Standing in his way is Raquel, the deadliest space pirate in the galaxy.